PWB's are used in a wide variety of electronic devices. Various types of connectors can be mounted on PWB's to transfer electronic signals to and from the PWB. Depending on the particular circumstances involved, surface mount connectors can provide well known advantages over other types of connectors, such as lower cost, manufacturing efficiencies and increased component density. The surface mount connector mechanism of the present invention can be used in any application utilizing a PWB. The present invention can also be used to implement various different types of surface mount connectors, having a variety of sizes, shapes, pin configurations and other characteristics. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in terms of a telephone application, including descriptions of several different types of surface mount connectors and a surface mount PWB interconnection mechanism.